Boston bombers are cowardly, knock-off jihadis: Biden

April 25, 2013 17:43 IST

The two Chechen brothers accused of the Boston Marathon bombings are "twisted, perverted, cowardly knock-off jihadis" who failed to instill fear in the American people, United States Vice President Joe Biden has said.

Speaking during a memorial service for Sean Collier, the MIT police officer slain by the Tsarnaev brothers last Friday, Biden asked why anyone would seek to terrorise a city.

"Why, whether it's Al Qaeda central out of the FATAs or two twisted, perverted, cowardly, knock-off jihadis here in Boston. Why do they do what they do," he questioned.

He added, "You (audience) are their worst nightmare. All the things, these perverted jihadis, self-made or organised, all the things they fear".

Biden said the way to defeat terrorists and terrorism is to never change America's way of life.

"The only way they can gain ground is to instill fear that causes us to jettison our values, way of life, for us to change. The moment we change, the moment we look inward, the moment we get into a crouch in a defensive, that's the moment when they win," the Washington Post quoted him as saying.

"It infuriates them that we refuse to bend, refuse to change, refuse to yield to fear. The doctrine of hate and oppression, they have found out they cannot compete with the values of openness and inclusiveness. And that's why they are losing around the world," he said.

Biden didn't mince words and continued, "Just look around this field at the student body here. Just listen to the accents of the president and vice president. This is a diverse campus -- probably the greatest technological university in the world. It's black, it's white, it's Muslim, it's Christian, it's Jewish, it's Hindu".

"You make no distinction between the competence of male and female. You are their worst nightmare. All the things these perverted jihadis, self-made or organised, all the things they fear," he said.